Wilbur Smith · 1999 · sea

Wilbur Smith's 1999 Courtney saga. In the early 1700s, Hal Courtney sails from England with three of his sons aboard the Seraph, sent to hunt an Arab corsair preying on East India Company ships. Their voyage carries them round the Cape of Good Hope to the pirate havens off Zanzibar - and, when young Dorian is captured and sold to the Prince of Oman, into the wider Indian Ocean.

1. 1
   England

   Called upon by the East India Company to rid the Indian Ocean of a fearsome Arab pirate, Hal Courtney fits out the fighting ship Seraph and sails from England with his sons Tom, Guy and Dorian, bound for the far side of the world.

2. 2
   Cape of Good Hope

   Rounding the storm-lashed Cape of Good Hope into the Indian Ocean, the Courtneys learn that their quarry, the corsair Jangiri, raids from bases hidden among the islands off the coast of East Africa.

3. 3
   Zanzibar

   In bloody running battles off Zanzibar and Madagascar, the Courtneys hunt the pirate fleet - but in the chaos young Dorian is taken captive, torn from his brothers and carried off toward the slave markets of Arabia.

4. 4
   Muscat

   Sold to the Prince of Oman, who comes to love him as a son, Dorian is raised in the court at Muscat while Tom vows to find him - the family scattered across the monsoon seas between Africa, Arabia and India.